A new type of “honey house” that even blows light bulbs

This has not been a terrific year for honey production, at least in our household. Cool weather in June, persistent problems with queen production and a few minor accidents have all reminded me of how grand plans sometimes . . . cost a grand.

And then there’s stories like the following one that make me laugh. This moved on Canadian Press this morning.

VARNEY, Ont. — Never mind a house of horrors, this was a house of honey.
A homeowner in southern Ontario says she knew she had a “sweet mess” on her hands when a crack in the ceiling started oozing honey.
Loretta Yates soon discovered the 1 1/2-storey house she shares with her husband and 22-month-old son was also home to about 80,000 bees nesting in the first-floor ceiling.
She says her insurance company wouldn’t cover the damage to her house in Varney, just outside Mount Forest, and a pest control company couldn’t promise to get the bugs out for good.
That’s when she called beekeeper David Schuit, who took down the ceiling and scraped the honeycomb loose, catching at least one queen bee and recovering more than 100 kilograms of honey.
Schuit says there was so much dripping down in the kitchen, a lightbulb blew because it was half-full of honey.
Bees and wasps have been nesting in the house for about four years, says Yates, but she never realized there were so many.
“I guess with the cracked ceiling in the kitchen and the honey dripping on me — that was (the) time to get help,” she said Monday.
It’s expected some of the honey will be made into candles.

*

It seems to me that this story just reinforces that people should call the local beekeeper first before calling a pest control company.

Comments are closed.

About . . .

Honey Bee Zen Apiaries Ltd and its subsidiary, Swan Valley Honey Ltd., are known for their sustainable beekeeping practices and a growing list of terroir-based niche honeys.
Based in the verdant Creston Valley in B.C.'s Central Kootenay region, we produce award-winning honeys derived from a vast array of forages, including alfalfa, dutch clover, snowberry, thistle, wild fruits, fireweed, sweet clover and more. The land has provided our Swan Valley branded-honey a gentle, delectable, sweetness sought after throughout the province. We supply over 30 retail locations in B.C.
We are committed to working with farmers who respect the land they use and the bees we provide, and we seek out strong and beneficial relationships. We are interested in the science and breeding of bees, the production of honey and hive products, and trying to resolve the challenges bees and their keepers around the world face.